About the Arts

At SFWHS, art and academics go hand in hand as you learn.

Art permeates the curriculum at SFWHS, igniting original thinking and giving you a richer academic experience. You don’t have to be an artist to feel it. When academics include artistic elements, you become a flexible, confident thinker with creative problem-solving skills, exceptional powers of observation, and an appreciation for the beauty in thinking and the world around you.

Arts are a natural component of how you think. When courses offer the opportunity for artistic expression, you connect with the material in a refreshing way and are challenged to look at the world from a new perspective. Even if you come into the high school with little artistic experience, you’ll find that when the arts are an integral part of learning, your lessons last a lifetime.

For example, in 11th grade you read the great medieval epic, Parzival – and also draw, paint, or sculpt your own interpretation of the story. You analyze and appreciate the masterwork and understand its deeper meaning for yourself, in your own way.

Or take Projective Geometry: you work with infinity, stretching you mind to understand, say, Pascal’s line – and you also draw it beautifully, accurately, and intelligently. Suddenly, the abstract becomes tangible!